AbstractThis
Engage lesson is the beginning of a series that helps
students explore the functions of cities by creating
a visual image of their own neighborhood. In this lesson
students will begin to recognize why people live in
cities and engage in activities based on their cultural
and economic needs, and physical location. This lesson
will initially involve facilitation by the teacher
to lead students in a question and answer-type discussion.

ObjectivesStudents will be able to:
1. Diagram, list, and label the major businesses and cultural areas
of the neighborhood where they grew up.
2. Identify the neighborhood’s major cultural aspects, including
the major language(s), religion(s), and art.
3. Describe the climate of their city.
4. Locate and identify the major manufacturing, industrial, and transportation
hubs in their city.

National Geography Standard(2) How
to use mental maps to organize information about
people, places, and environments.
(2.1) How mental maps reflect the human perception
of places.
(10) The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of earth’s cultural
mosaics.
(10.2) How culture shapes the character of a region.
(4) The physical and human characteristics of places.
(4A) Explain “place” from a variety of viewpoints.

Teacher BackgroundIt
would be helpful if the teacher has a general geographical
and cultural knowledge of the neighborhood(s)where most
of the students live.

Activity
Day 1
1. To hook students into the topic, begin a discussion
by asking:

a. “Why do people live in cities?” Possible
answers include: For economic and cultural opportunities
b. “What kinds of activities do people participate
in where they live?” or, “What kinds of things
do people do in their cities?”
Possible answers include: go shopping, go to the movies
(entertainment), live/reside (residential), go to school
(education), go to church (religion), get help from
the government (health, transportation, obtain licenses),
go to work, produce items (manufacture), or sell products
(commercial).

2.
Tell students these are called “functions” of
cities and that you want them to either work in pairs,
or individually to diagram the places they just listed,
in the area and neighborhood where they currently
live. Give students a piece of blank paper to list, label,
and draw from memory the streets they take to get
to
school, to the movies, to shops, church, and to their
work from home. Tell students it should end up looking
similar to the visual maps we draw to explain to
others how to get from one place to another. It may take
more
than one page.

3.
Give them the opportunity to look at one another’s
maps also.

Day
2
4. Explain to students that people participate
and socialize in a variety of activities based
on their
cultural preferences.
These cultural preferences include their language,
religion, and art.

5.
Give students the handout called ‘Creative Cultural
Expression’ to read aloud and then briefly
explain and discuss it with the class.

6.
Ask students to return to their partners and for
each of them to report and list:

i)
the major language(s) spoken in their neighborhood
ii) the religious affiliations of the churches
they see in their neighborhood
iii) Describe and write a song to the type
of music they like, a painting, sculpture
or building
they
like, or
a story that is commonly told in their
family.

Day
3
7. Tell students that often times the climate
of their city determines the types of
activities people
engage
in.

8.
Explain that in some areas, where there are many mountains,
people like
to hike.
Give the
example that in Tucson,
Arizona, there are many hiking trails,
but because summer weather can be very
hot, over
100 degrees,
people will
chose to hike during winter or spring
when the weather
is milder.

9.
Give students the handout example of Tucson, Arizona.
Read it aloud as
a class,
then have
them describe
with their partners, and also on
the same report they’re
putting together, a similar geographical
description of their city and the
types of things they do based on
weather.

Day
4
10. Have students research the major
commercial and industrial areas
of their city, including
manufacturing plants,
airports, freeways, etc., by obtaining
an Urban Area
Model Map of their city.

11.
Ask students to label and name those places on their
map.
To do
this, students
can check
the websites
of their
local Chamber of Commerce, city
government, or Planning Development
Commission.

12.
End with the following question:
”
Look at your diagram and brief explanation of your city/neighborhood.
Based on your description, is this the type of city someone
else would enjoy visiting or living in? Let’s try
to discuss and explain why or why not.”

HomeworkGiven before Day 1 is over
Ask students to go home and think about a song they like
and to also think of a story that is commonly told in their
family.

Day
4/5
Have students write
a letter to a friend
who lives out of town
that summarizes the
neighborhood they live
in, the cultural
or recreational activities they engage in, the climate
of their city, and
the main economic opportunities
available.

Embedded
Assessment1.
Responses to initial questions allow for pre-assessment
of student knowledge about function of cities.

2.
Student maps permit assessment of identification of functions
of students’ home city in multiple formats.

3.
Student letter to a friend who lives out of town
that summarizes the neighborhood they live in, the
cultural
or recreational activities they engage in, the climate
of their city, and the main economic opportunities
available allows assessment of ability to account
for factors which
describe their city.

PULSE
is a project of the Community Outreach and Education
Program of the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences
Center and is funded by: